Consolation in Life and Death, Derived from the Life of Christ

John ChurchProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.0
Word count
46K words
Chapters
5

Tags

English Originals Religion Life PhilosophySpiritual PracticeSpiritual ComfortMoral CultivationHeartwarming Narrative

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Consolation in Life and Death, Derived from the Life of Christ by J. ChurchAuthor: Church, J. (John), 1780?-1825?,Language: English, Class: BV: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Christianity: Practical theology, Worship, Release Date: Oct 6, 2018

Editor's review

This is an English devotional work that derives consolation for life and death from the life of Christ, falling within the scope of practical theology and spiritual reading. The author, J. Church, develops meditations and exhortations around the course of Christ's life, grounding the hope of faith in the context of life's end and grief. As a free Project Gutenberg e-book, it preserves the original form of the public-domain text, and its length and style are suited to slow, segmented reading. Its value lies not in scholarly rigor but in offering a language of faith as a way of settling the heart for those facing bereavement, illness, or their own finitude. In reading, each chapter may be treated as material for a single meditation, with notes and reflection in light of one's own situation. For readers studying nineteenth-century English devotional literature or the language of religious consolation, it can also serve as a plain primary text that helps show how believers of the time drew care for life and death from the life of Christ.

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Reading tips

  1. Read chapter by chapter in separate sittings, pausing briefly after each short section to write down the sentences that moved you and your present situation.
  2. Keep a notebook and record the book's consoling statements about life and death alongside your own experience.
  3. If English reading is difficult, first read for the general sense, then use a dictionary to read key passages closely.
  4. Read alongside relevant passages from the Psalms and the Gospels to appreciate its way of quoting and meditating.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5

FAQ

Is this book a novel or a devotional work? It is a consolatory work of religious practice and devotion, offering meditations and exhortations around the life of Christ; it is not a work of fiction. Readers should treat it as material for segmented meditation rather than as a plot-driven book.
Can someone without a Christian background read it? Yes, but the many expressions of faith centered on the life of Christ require some background knowledge. Non-believers can read it as a text for understanding nineteenth-century English devotional language, focusing on its ways of consoling and its style, without needing to accept all its premises.
How difficult is the English, and is it suitable for beginners? The text is nineteenth-century English, and its sentence patterns and religious vocabulary pose a certain threshold for beginners. It is advisable to read first for the general sense, then use a dictionary to read key passages closely; if you only want to understand the content, a modern translation or introductory guide can help.
What should I note when reading the electronic edition? This is a public-domain Project Gutenberg e-book, laid out mainly as plain text and possibly lacking modern annotation. It is advisable to use a reader with adjustable font size and to mark the chapters yourself, so as to make segmented meditation and review easier.

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About the author

John Church Author · British · 1780–1835

John Church (1780–1835) was an English Independent minister and Evangelical writer. Some bibliographic sources give his dates as "1780?–1825?", while the library record lists 1780–1835; the discrepancy cannot be fully resolved from the limited public information available. He is said to have been a foundling raised in the Foundling Hospital, and he began preaching in 1807. The library holds 23 of his works, mostly sermons and religious tracts, including A Confession of Evangelical Principles, The Precious Name, The Believer's Confidence in a Faithful God, and The Glory of Grace Effected by Weak Means. Centered on Evangelical faith, his writings urge believers to trust in God and hold fast to hope in adversity, showing a distinctively Independent and Evangelical character.